


Could Have Almost

by ObsidianRomance



Series: First Times [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-19
Updated: 2013-08-19
Packaged: 2017-12-23 23:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/932465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsidianRomance/pseuds/ObsidianRomance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean recover from a medical scare with their eight month old daughter. (Timestamp that takes place four months before <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/900717">Soak Up The Sun</a>.  You do not have to read the story to understand this one.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Could Have Almost

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kadysn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kadysn/gifts).



> Warnings: post mpreg!Sam, H/C, mini-schmoop  
> Author's Note: This was written for Kady because she's been dealing with some hard stuff and I wanted her to remember that things get better. XOXO

Nikki almost died last night.

That’s not really true but it’s not really false either.  Dean isn’t sure what would have happened so he amends his thought to believing Nikki _could_ have died last night.

Mostly, Nikki isn’t mobile so when he and Sam truck their daughter all over the continent trying to hunt things and make the world a better place for her, she has no choice but to go with the program.

It’s weird that Dean was afraid of their run of the mill baddies causing Nikki harm but what did her in was as seemingly harmless as an egg.

Nikki, as it turns out, is allergic to egg whites.

They found this out because she wanted to eat some of Sam’s egg white omelet last night.  It was a mistake to begin with, mostly because it was almost midnight and who has an eight month old up that late.  What people didn’t know is that Sam and Dean had been driving for six hours after fleeing the scene of a very bloody, very unprofessional, slaughtering of a werewolf that practically ambushed them.  They couldn’t clean up and they needed to get out of there.

So they drove and Nikki slept the way she always does in response to the rumble of the Impala’s engine. 

By midnight, Nikki was ready to socialize with the world, big dimply smile on display.

Dean ordered his traditional greasy mess of meat and fried things and Sam wasn’t letting Nikki go anywhere near that.  She’d been eating a lot of new things lately but a greasy burger wasn’t going to be one of them.  Sam had been on top of things in terms of doctor’s appointments when he could swing them and reading up on what Nikki was allowed to eat.  He swore eggs were okay, even recommended, by the time a baby was eight months old.

It’s ironic to Dean now that the healthy egg white omelet proved more deadly than Dean’s piece of grease on a bun.

It was hard to see that irony at the time.  It was hard to see anything but Nikki slowly falling apart.  In real time, Sam and Dean had no idea what was happening until it was almost too late.  When Dean speeds the events up in his mind, he has no idea how they didn’t know something was wrong with their daughter.

It started with a runny nose and a red flush on her cheeks and around her mouth.  It ended with her gasping for breath and a mad dash for a hospital.

Nikki has no paperwork; Sam and Dean haven’t figured that part out yet.  In the eyes of the U.S.A., she doesn’t exist.  But she’s in with doctors long enough for Dean to come up with a plan to get them all out of Dodge before the topic of insurance paperwork is breeched and people take Nikki away from them.

Sam was freaking out and Dean had to spend his time between making sure his brother was okay and trying to assess what doctors were doing to Nikki.  In the end, Nikki was stabilized and Dean makes off with a handful of pediatric EpiPens and his daughter before anyone can catch their actual names.

So he drove six more hours, far, far, _far_ away from where they spilled any blood or Nikki was almost torn out of their existence.

He got a motel room and watched Sam unsnap Nikki from her car seat to hustle her inside.

Sam undressed Nikki in slow motion, doing everything like he was memorizing her reactions to him and the way each roll of her skin presented itself.  When she was dressed in a pair of soft sleep clothing, Sam pulled his own clothing off, tugged on a new t-shirt that didn’t smell like hospitals or werewolves, and crawled into bed with his daughter tucked along the curve of his body.  He was on his side, body protecting Nikki from _everything_.

Dean watches them.  He stares in the dimness of the room and can’t take his eyes off of Sam and Nikki.

Nikki almost died today but perhaps so did Dean.

He’s like that now.  It’s not a stretch.  He is still like that with Sam, like Sam’s life and his are actually the same and if you cut one short it will irrevocably affect the other.

Now that things have slowed down, Dean thinks about how much time in the last seven hours his heart spent not beating.

He can’t bring himself to move so he stands at the doorway, keeping bad things out, while watching Sam nuzzle their baby.

If anything, Dean is over protective of Nikki, almost to a fault.  He stupidly wishes he knew eggs were dangerous, like he could have done something to fight back.

Nikki babbles a question and Sam comes up with an answer for it; they’re having their own little conversation that Dean doesn’t understand.

She looks really small despite how much she’s grown and Dean can’t bring himself to join them on the bed because he needs to stand guard.  He needs to protect them.

The blanket Sam draped over his and Nikki’s bodies pools to the side when he turns to look at Dean, accentuating the fact that there is a very obvious vacant spot waiting for Dean to fill it.  “Dean, come over here.”

“I’m good.”

Licking his lips, Sam looks just as exhausted as Dean feels but he’s doing a better job and functioning like Nikki expects him to.  “Come on, Dean.  You’re not good.  You’re shaking.”

“I’m good Sammy!”  Dean snaps but didn’t expect it.  Rubbing a hand over his face, he pinches the bridge of his nose before sighing.  “She okay?”

“She’s fine.  She doesn’t even remember any of it.  She was just scared and now…now we know.”  Sam makes a sad purse of his lips.  “Come on.  We’re safe enough here and she wants you. She always does.”

“She wants you too.”  Dean stays put, eyes doing a quadruple check of the room’s layout.

“I didn’t say she didn’t.  She wants both of us.”  He sits up, leaving the warm cocoon he created around Nikki and the little girls whines in protest.  “Get in bed, _right now_ , or I am going to force you.  And, Dean?  I will use her against you.”

Dean doesn’t doubt it.  Sam gave birth to Nikki; he can get away with a lot of demands.  He practically has the world’s only “Get Out Of Jail Free” card in terms of their relationship.  There are a lot of things that shouldn’t have been possible but Sam’s done them and Nikki is here so Dean knows his brother has a lot of ammunition to make him feel guilty about not snuggling their daughter.

“Fine.”  Dean sets his features and narrows his eyes at Sam.  When he undresses, he does so with more force to each motion than necessary until he is slipping into bed in a fresh t-shirt.

As it turns out, Sam was right, as he’s prone to be.  Joining them in bed is just when he needs to make his heart beat correctly again.

“Hi, Nik.”  Dean traces the curve of Nikki’s cheek, lingering over the allergy induced rash that still tints her baby perfect skin.

It takes two bats of her eyelashes and a fist around his finger to send all the tension out of Dean’s body and he comes crashing down to the mattress like a weight has been lifted from him.  He curls his body around her tiny one, reaching out a hand to shift her and nestle her against his chest.

“Hi, Nik,” he repeats because he doesn’t know what else to say.  She understands “hi” but she doesn’t understand “I’m so glad you’re still breathing so I can watch over you while you sleep tonight.”  He presses a kiss to her temple and keeps his head close, inhaling a scent he now knows anywhere.

Sam resumes his position, both of them bracketing Nikki’s body.  He brings one arm to reach over Nikki’s belly and Dean snatches it up, squeezing into his palm and trying to let the need for their connection take over.  “She’s okay, Dean.”

“Hmm.”  Dean wishes life was as simple as enjoying the downtime they are having at the current moment.  He kisses Nikki again but looks over her head to lock eyes with Sam.  “Can’t she just drink formula for the rest of her life?”

Sam laughs softly.  “And miss out on all your favorite foods?”  He shifts closer so they all share one space.  It’s warm and safe.  Unsurprisingly, Nikki’s eyes are fluttering closed, lids heavy and drooping.  “Babies are allergic to things.  We’ll figure it out.”

They lay in silence for a while.  Nikki falls asleep and makes soft breathing sounds, ones Dean makes sure to keep track of.  He’s watched her sleep enough times to know she snuffles in her sleep every few breaths and smacks her lips.

He is, essentially, the parent who watches their child sleep to make sure they are still breathing.  Only, this time, he has a good excuse.  He isn’t going to sleep for a long time.  He’s tired but watching over Sam and Nikki makes him feel better than sleep ever can.

Today was scary but the days leading up to it weren’t.  Tomorrow is a new day and brings with it a chance to remember that there are going to be scary moments with Nikki but good ones, like the weight of her tiny body against Dean’s chest, will outshine the dark thoughts.

Sam’s almost asleep when Dean pipes up.  “See, Sammy, I told you things aren’t always good for you just because you think they are.  Next time Nikki is eating bacon.  No one is allergic to bacon.”

Sam doesn’t argue.  He laughs into the pillow and pulls Dean closer.

They’re tired and the sun is coming up.

The world can wait while they lose track of time with Nikki.

**Author's Note:**

> People wanted me to revisit Sam, Dean and Nikki. I didn't think it would happen in such a way, but it just happened. I will write some more timestamps about Dean being an overprotective daddy.


End file.
